Former Hononegah star David Brown just keeps coming back for Western Michigan

Saturday

Dec 14, 2013 at 9:00 AM

By Matt TrowbridgeRockford Register Star

David Brown stands atop the Mid-American Conference, averaging 20.1 points for Western Michigan.

“He’s also captain of the team,” coach Steve Hawkins said in a phone interview. “And he’s earned every bit of it — and more — literally through blood, sweat and tears.”

Brown is the Broncos’ clear leader, but 17 months ago it looked like the oft-injured former Hononegah star wouldn’t even have a place on the team.

Brown missed most of his sophomore year. Most of BOTH sophomore years.

He missed all but nine games with an ankle injury in 2010. After taking a medical red-shirt, his do-over sophomore season ended after 10 games when he blew out his right knee in a Dec. 2011 game against Duquesne.

And Brown needed knee surgery again before his junior season. That could have been the final blow.

“We had oversigned that year,” Hawkins said. “I thought there was a good chance he would be the one who would not be able to make it back.”

Brown completely tore the ACL and meniscus in his right knee the first time. The second time, he tore his meniscus the summer before his junior season and had surgery Aug. 2, 2012.

“They took my meniscus out; it was completely torn and couldn’t be repaired,” Brown said. “And when they went back in, they noticed my ACL wasn’t healing properly. They gave me complete freedom of deciding what needed to be done. If they redid everything, I would be out a whole ’nother year. I told them to put three screws in because I wanted to come back and play.”

It was still a longshot. Brown didn’t come back until January. But Hawkins waited for him instead of using Brown’s scholarship on another player.

“If you know David,” Hawkins said, “there is no way you can even think about doing him wrong.”

In return, Brown is doing Western Michigan right better than anyone could have dreamed. He returned for the Broncos’ Mid-American Conference opener last January and was named the MAC Sixth Man of the Year after averaging 11 points in 22 games.

And now, Brown’s 20.1 average is the highest by any Division I player from the Rockford area in more than 20 years.

“It’s been nothing short of remarkable,” Hawkins said.

A rough start

It was not easy for Brown at first at Western Michigan, even when he was healthy. He shot 6-for-46 on 3-pointers as a freshman, and 28 percent overall.

“I wasn’t confident in my game,” Brown said. “I wasn’t confident I could play at this level with the best of the best. I wasn’t making the shots I hit in high school. I got frustrated with myself.

“It just shows that if you keep working on your game and have confidence, you will make shots. You can’t always be hard on yourself. You have to relax and play like you did in high school, know their is a reason why coaches recruited you, and you’ll be fine.”

Tears and prayers

Brown’s ankle injury his second season was bad enough, but his knee injury his third year was so bad his mom and little sister (Corinne Brown was 3 at the time) came out to spend two weeks by his bedside.

“There were a lot of nights staying up and crying,” Brown said. “My mom didn’t get much sleep, I was in such pain, calling out to her. She stayed by my side.

“If they weren’t there, I would have been the most depressed person in the world. They took care of me and did everything they could to make sure I was OK. Mom didn’t get no sleep. I didn’t get no sleep. We stayed up all night talking and praying.”

Two years later, Pam Brown can’t talk about those times without crying again.

“My heart was crushed,” she said. “You know he is going through tribulations and you can’t help him. We got through it. As a family, we got through it, but it was David’s own personal struggle.

“It was part of his transition into young manhood. A lot of young men would have given up. He didn’t.”

The road back

Then came long months of rehab.

“At first, just bending my knee felt like my leg was broken. The pain was so miserable.”

Yet Brown kept bending that knee. And lifting weights with it. And running on it.

“After awhile, the pain dissipates,” Brown said.

But the work never does. Practice starts at 8 a.m.

Brown got there at 7.

Even though he didn’t practice.

“I’d rehab all through practice. And then after practice, if I had free time, I came back and did more rehab.”

Then, just when Brown thought he was all the way back, he hurt his knee again and was on crutches when Western Michigan went on an exhibition trip to Europe.

“That helped not playing in Europe,” Hawkins said. “There was not a lot of pressure on his knees, not a lot of wear-and-tear of a full offseason of conditioning and pickup games. It ended up being sort of a perfect rehab for him.

Star is born

Brown made an immediate impact when he was finally able to play again. He was the MAC Sixth Man of he Year and the Broncos (22-13, 10-6) won the MAC West title.

David Brown wanted to do more.

“People doubted me,” he said. “People knew I was a decent player, but they weren’t giving me much credit. And I was not happy myself. I wasn’t playing the best basketball I could play.

“I sat down and got feedback from every coach. They told me my jump shot needed to be improved. I needed to get to the basket more. Whatever they said, I did. I didn’t just want to be another Sixth Man of the Year. I wanted a bigger role.”

And he wanted to win.

“My coaches gave me all the trust in the world,” Brown said. “I can’t stop at 20 points. I’ve got to keep going. I have to think about how I can make our team better. I don’t want to be scoring 20 points a game. I want to be recognized for winning at the highest level. MAC Tournament. March Madness. Everything.”

Pam Brown still holds her breath when her son plays.

“He’s been through all these tribulations. I hope he doesn’t have any more,” she said. “Every time he hits the ground, I say, ‘Please God.’ ”

Every time David Brown takes the floor, he does so with a smile. That alone is reason enough to say “Thank God.”

“The greatest thing of all of this for me is to watch David come back and play with a smile,” Hawkins said. “It’s no longer a labor for him. The game was taken away from him, and not on his own terms. When he came back, he had a greater appreciation. It’s not every day that at the age of 21 you are able to actually enjoy practicing again.”